What piece of music has meant the most to you and why?

Two, I guess.

1) Classical: when I was a kid, I heard “1812 Overture” on the FM radio, and the tune, especially the cannon shots at the end – caught my attention. That turned me on to the versatility of classical music – and that it didn’t need words to be good and listenable.

Since then, I have enjoyed classical music of all types – everything from piano concerti to violin solos, to full symphonic works. I don’t like every piece, but I give composers a lot of respect for that they did.

More contemporary: I have always liked Leonard Cohen’s folk songs, but the one that gives me shivers every time is his song Suzanne – link: https://youtu.be/svitEEpI07E?feature=shared.

TO me, it’s a good tune, a bit of melancholy, a bit of optimism, a good narrative. Just a wonderful folk song.

Of course, others will have their own favorites, but these are mine.

Probably the musical score and the songs in the film A Man and a Woman with Trigninant and Aimee. The music in tandem with the visuals in that film left me dazed and mesmerized after seeing it for the first time ever in the mid-90s on TV at 3 am in the morning. That cinematic experience got embedded in my psyche for good.

Caravan: Nine Feet Underground.
I have been listening to this song for 45 years and every time I hear it I smile.

For classical I have many but for a favorite I’ll probably have to go with Beethoven Symphony #7. I just love the second movement, and it’s use in Tarsem’s The Fall was just wonderful.

Neil Young Harvest Moon & Like A Hurricane.

My hubby was a huge Neil Young fan & these were 2 of his faves, so I hold both of them near & dear to my heart now that he’s no longer here to share them!!!

Pachelbel – Canon in D Major

I like the version I have the best, but it’s in my car and I’m too lazy to go get it to write the title here. I love the light ocean waves in the background.

Why? It makes me sad yet fulfilled at the same time. I can almost feel my heart swell. There are a few songs/pieces of music that have the power to make me cry…this is one.

Gnossienne No 1 performed by Alexandre Tharaud Link

I have listened to Satie for decades. Tharaud plays it like no other I have ever heard. It is sublime.

Satie speaks to something primal in me. I cannot explain further.

@Hawaii_Jake My uncle used to play that on the piano. It always makes me think of him. And Satie’s house museum in Honfleur, France is one of the most imaginative museums I’ve ever been in.

As for the OP, it is impossible for me to think of just one – so many songs and classical pieces have great meaning for me. Two classical works I could include are Bach’s Goldberg Variations and Dvorak’s From the New World Symphony.

This almost sounds like a climactic scene where the mobster leans in on his victim and asks fake-nicely, “Which is your favorite finger, sir?” as he brandishes the bone shears in his hand.

But not like that at all, of course, that would be a sort of mock opera. Anyway.

There’s too much to say that I could narrow it to “a favorite”. But now I’m going to listen to and watch some https://youtu.be/HljSXSm6v9M?si=_PKk63Q7gQh3Lwez (about an hour’s worth), to calm down.

Led Zeppelin’s Self-Titled Debut Album

(omg, I just wrote four paragraphs about a number of albums and lost it all except for the first line. Gah!)

@Hawaii_Jake I would agree. One of my favourite pieces of music beautifully played. The pacing and the touch on the keys seem just right.

Pavane pour une infante défunte (Pavane for a Dead Princess)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DVtNt-6OTM8

Played it in high school band.

Songs that really mean a lot to me are not anything fancy, or classical, but just pop songs from when I was little. When I hear them, I am brought right back to being in the house with my mom, or being in first grade, or going swimming with friends, being driven by my mom in her VW Beetle. Songs like Honky Tonk Women, or pop songs by Neil Diamond or Chicago or The Association or the 5th Dimension – too many songs to list but you get the idea.

No single piece does that for me.
This can also evolve over time.

Israel K’s Over the Rainbow

Let’s Go by David Tamaoka. A sweet discovery wading through SXSW torrents.

The Great Atomic Power by the Louvaine Brothers—haunting and hilarious at the same time. I discovered by way of the Uncle Tupelo cover and listened to it about twenty times laughing my ass off on the way to a visitor day at Trinity Site.

@kevbo1 Totally agree with that version of Over the Rainbow!

According to recording engineer Milan Bertosa, he was closing up his studio at 3 a.m. when a client called to ask if Kamakawiwoʻole could come in. Bertosa agreed on the condition that the singer arrive in fifteen minutes. Needless to say, Kamakawiwoʻole got to the studio in time.

“And in walks the largest human being I had seen in my life. Israel was probably like 500 pounds. And the first thing at hand is to find something for him to sit on.” After that was taken care of, the two got to work. ”... I put up some microphones, do a quick sound check, roll tape, and the first thing he does is ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow.’ He played and sang, one take, and it was over,” Bertosa recalled.

@smudges that’s an amazing story. Thanks for sharing it.